Hot Stove Report: Debunking a Rumor

Personally, I enjoy bringing information when I’m able to be that rumors, official press releases, transaction news, even when the Brewers are hosting their mini marathon again in 2013. I strive to deliver content in this space that Brewers fans care about and would find useful, interesting, informative (or hopefully all three).

That being said, today I write to address something that came up yesterday on Twitter.

That tweet came yesterday morning around the same time as I was looking for information about the Brewers’ offer to Ryan Dempster (AAV under $10 million for the guaranteed two years, by the way), so while I was communicating I asked whether the Brewers had shown any interest in Mike Adams.

I was told that the Brewers had not been discussing an offer for Mike Adams.

To be fair, Stark never said that they were. He merely said that the Brewers had been “linked” to the free agent reliever which could simply mean that people mentioned how the Brewers bullpen needs help and Adams used to pitch for the Brewers. That’s a “link” and all it takes.

There’s sentiment around social media that Adams might be too pricey for the Brewers given his performance the last couple of seasons, but earlier this autumn many felt Adams would be forced into a discounted agreement with his next employer because of the surgically-repaired thoracic outlet syndrome he was diagnosed with in late 2012. That’s more because any surgery can be difficult to recover from so you just don’t know how well Adams will respond to it. The timeline under “normal” circumstances would see Adams ready for the regular season though. The surgery to correct the condition was completed in mid-October. For sake of discussion, Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals the same surgery in July of 2012 and returned to pitch in the playoffs.

So again fans found themselves in a “What if…?” situation. What if Adams’ surgery scares off suitors? What if the market for a top setup man (who earned $4.4 million in 2012) is depressed? What if Adams, who felt slighted under-appreciated and under-utilized before he was traded to the Mets in 2006, would be okay with coming back to Milwaukee?

I’m here today (because I didn’t have a chance yesterday at all) to let you know that barring some unforeseen reversal of a couple of things, Milwaukee will not be chasing Mike Adams and therefore he won’t be signing here. He may have been “linked” to the Brewers, but that was out of a matter of circumstances aligning than there being any real chance.

Sorry the news isn’t better on this rumor, but given his cost (slightly depressed or not) I don’t think it’d be the right match for the Brewers this off-season anyway given their self-imposed limitations.

*** UPDATE: Forgot to type this before I hit “Publish”. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com mentioned yesterday that Melvin admitted talking to Adams’ agent this winter but that he got the feeling that Adams had other teams in mind. That article is here: “